by Amanda Peters
June is National Indigenous History Month, a time to learn about experiences of Indigenous people and celebrate culture. Such an important time calls for a review of a beautiful book that not only shows the hardship of two families but the resilience that is at the heart of many Indigenous communities. Amanda Peters’ award winning book, The Berry Pickers tells the far too common story of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
In 1962 a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia is excited to work the berry fields of Maine as it is the only time that the older children come back from residential school but, the family is not reunited for long as the youngest daughter Ruthie soon goes missing. With a lack of help from the authorities the family has no choice but to grieve Ruthie’s disappearance while also never stop searching for her.
The story is told from two perspectives Joe and Norma. Joe, Ruthie’s older brother reflects back on how the guilt of losing his sister has affected his life and tries to heal from not only the trauma of losing his sister but the collective trauma that comes with colonization. Throughout his life Joe faced discrimination, mental illness and more loss. However, the bond he has with of his family protects him and gives him a safe place to go in his final days.
Meanwhile, Norma a woman from Maine recounts her strange childhood being the only child of an affluent, family with an emotionally absent father and a mother who is forever processing her own grief. While Norma is grateful for her childhood, there are somethings that just don’t make sense and that her parents are hiding from her. It takes fifty years and the death of both her parents for Norma to finally learn the answers to her questions.
Throughout the story Peters shows that while Joe and Norma are both having to deal with painful circumstances. It is their perseverance that guides them. Along with longing in their heart for family and community. While this is a fictional story it does an extraordinary job of demonstrating strength that is required to be an Indigenous person in a world that makes it difficult to be one.